Pathfinder - The Bard Handbook

Disclaimer

I will use content from the core rules, but will intentionally omit any content not published
on the official Pathfinder SRD due to the
unmanageable volume of non-SRD content, and the wildly varying quality of non-SRD content.
If you would like me to write handbooks for specific content not published on the official
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basis. I will use the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build
handbooks. Also note that many colored items are also links to the Paizo SRD.

Red: Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational.

Orange: OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances

Green: Good options.

Blue: Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character.

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both recently added to the SRD. I'm excited to explore them, and I am actively working
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Introduction

The Bard is among the most versatile classes in the game, capable of filling nearly
any role in the party, but the Bard's definitive abilities are focused on support and
utility. Inspire Courage is among the most iconic and effective support effects in
Pathfinder, but it is only of the Bard's numerous excellent abilities.

Bard Class Features

Base Attack Bonus: 2/3 BAB is enough for the Bard to
hold their own in combat.

Saves: Good Reflex and Will saves.

Proficiencies: Light armor and shields, and a small
selection of martial weapons including the Longsword and Rapier. This gives the Bard
enough options to get the job done, but the Bard's AC will generally be poor. For some
reason the Bard gets proficiency with the Whip.

Skills: 6+ skill ranks, and a skill list as long as your
arm. The Bard gets all Knowledge skills as class skills, and Bardic Knowledge adds a
heft bonus to Knowledge checks, making the Bard one of the easiest Librarians in the
game with only a few skill ranks.

Spells: Despite being only a 2/3 caster, the Bard's spells
are fantastic. The Bard's spell are arcane, but include Cure spells, and have a lot of
excellent options which are only available to the Bard.

Bardic Knowledge (Ex):

Bardic Performance: Fantastic and versatile, Bardic
Performance is the Bard's primary option in combat. There are numerous feats which can
enhance Bardic Performance, and any Bard who doesn't take Lingering Performance is doing
themselves a huge disservice. As you grow in level you can perform as smaller actions,
allowing you to quickly cycle songs and rely on Lingering Performance to keep their effects
running without expending performance rounds. The biggest limitation on Bardic performance
is that a bard cannot have more than one bardic performance in effect at one time.

Countersong (Su): Very situational.

Distraction (Su): More useful than Countersong, but
still very situational.

Fascinate (Su): A surprisingly useful way to
distract enemies or defuse combat. This has saved my life a few times when my
party was in bad shaped and got ambushed by enemies.

Inspire Courage (Su): The Bard's bread and butter.
Inspire Courage will make up the majority of your Bardic Performance uses, and
will consume the majority of your performance rounds per day.

Inspire Competence (Su): Use this for every skill
check (except Stealth obviously). The scaling bonus will always be useful, and
can significantly improve your party's reliability.

Suggestion (Sp): With an hours per level duration,
Suggestion can be a great way to circumvent combat. Use Fascinate to calm enemies,
then use Suggestion to politely Suggest that they go hang out somewhere out of
the way for a few hours.

Dirge of Doom (Su): Though it doesn't stack with
other fear effects, this is a great way to debuff enemies before you allies drop
save or suck effects. Note that Dirge of Doom doesn't allow a saving throw.

Inspire Greatness (Su): This ability is fantastic.
2d10 temporary hit points are great, especially because the target(s) get to add
their constitution modifier. There is no extra cost to start a new performance,
so you can end then immediately restart this performance whenever the temporary
hit points are consumed. By this level you can start a performance as move action,
and it gets even easier when you hit level 13 and can start a performance as a
Swift action. Note that the attack bonus is a competence bonus, so it won't stack
with Inspire Courage's bonus to attacks.

Soothing Performance (Su): The Mass Cure spells
generally aren't great, but this only costs 4 Bardic Performance round for the
equivalent of a 7th-level spell. At this level you have plenty of performance
rounds to throw around, so you should be able to spare a few to patch up the
party between fights.

Frightening Tune (Sp): For one round of performance
you can make every enemy in a fight run away. Even if this only affects a few of
the enemies in a fight, you can do this as a Swift action and disable huge portions
of encounters.

Inspire Heroics (Su): +4 to AC and saves is pretty
great, but you will only be able to affect two creatures at most.

Mass Suggestion (Sp): A bit more powerful and versatile
than Frightening Tune, but you can't use it as easily in combat.

Deadly Performance (Su): Save or die as a full round
action that costs only one performance round. You way want to start the round with
Fascinate as a swift action to keep the target in place.

Cantrips: Cantrips are always amazing.

Versatile Performance (Ex): Versatile Performance allows
the Bard to pick up additional skills while using their Perform modifier in place of
their potentially lower modifier to the original skill. When selecting your Versatile
Performance skills, be sure to avoid duplicates. The Bard gets their second Versatile
Performance at level 6, but there is very little need for more than two, so no one
would fault you for only taking two performance skills.

Act (Bluff, Disguise): Disguise is very situational,
and you can completely replace it with Disguise Self.

Comedy (Bluff, Intimidate): Covers two essential
social skills. Combines well with Oratory.

Dance (Acrobatics, Fly): Acrobatics is very situational
unless you plan to do a lot of Tumbling, and it's nearly impossible to justify more
than one rank in Fly.

Keyboard Instruments (Diplomacy, Intimidate): Covers two essential
social skills. Combines well with Sing.

Oratory (Diplomacy, Sense Motive): Covers two essential
social skills, and Sense Motive is based on the Bard's relatively low Wisdom. Combines
well with Comedy.

Lore Master (Ex): Makes the Bard perfectly reliable as
a Librarian. With one rank in every Knowledge skill and Bardic Knowledge you can
expect to consistently pass most Knowledge checks.

Jack-of-All-Trades (Ex): Be good at literally every
skill.

Abilities

Charisma is the Bard's most important ability for both .

Str: Good for melee or bow damage, but the Bard needs
Dexterity to fix their poor AC, and they can't be good at every ability.

Dex: With light armor Dexterity is essential. Take Weapon
Finesse if you plan to be in melee.

Con: Fortitude is the Bard's only bad save and with
only d8 hit points the Bard really needs Constitution.

Int: More skill ranks are great for the Bard's huge
skill list.

Wis: Only needed for Will saves, and the Bard gets good
Will saves.

Cha: Essential for the Bard's spellcasting, social skills,
and Perform.

25 Point Buy

20 Point Buy

15 Point Buy

Elite Array

Str: 12

Dex: 14

Con: 14

Int: 12

Wis: 11

Cha: 16

Str: 12

Dex: 14

Con: 14

Int: 11

Wis: 11

Cha: 15

Str: 11

Dex: 14

Con: 12

Int: 10

Wis: 10

Cha: 15

Str: 13

Dex: 14

Con: 12

Int: 10

Wis: 8

Cha: 15

Races

Bonuses to Charisma are fantastic, and a favored class bonus which offers additional
performance rounds can go a long way to improve the Bard's support abilities.

Dwarf: The Charisma penalty hurts, and the Dwarf
doesn't really offer anything useful for the Bard.

Elf: Despite lacking a bonus to Charisma, the Elf's
bonuses to Dexterity and Intelligence can be very helpful for the Bard.

Gnome: The bonuses to Constitution and Charisma are both
great for the Bard, and the Gnome's bonus to illusion spells is nice for the Bard's
spell list. The Gnome favored class bonus grants some much-needed performance rounds.

Half-Elf: A flexible ability bonus is always helpful,
and Skill Focus is great with Versatile Performance. The Half-Elf favored class bonus
grants some much-needed performance rounds, and you can take the Human favored class
bonus to learn additional spells..

Half-Orc: A very different feel from the Half-Elf but
many of the same benefits. The Half-Orc favored class bonus grants some much-needed
performance rounds, and you can take the Human favored class
bonus to learn additional spells.

Halfling: The Halfling's Dexterity and Charisma bonuses
are great for the Bard, and the Halfling's other abilities help the Bard serve as a
Scout. Unfortunately the Halfling favored class bonus is pretty terrible.

Human: A bonus feat and a flexible ability bonus are both
great for the Bard, and the Human's bonus skill ranks help fill out the Bard's skill
list. The Human favored class bonus allows you to expand the Bard's very limited number
of spells known. This extra versatility can make the Bard a very potent spellcaster.

Skills

Acrobatics (Dex): Only useful if you plan to
tumble.

Appraise (Int): Too situational.

Bluff (Cha): Essential for the party's Face,
but it's easier to cover this with Versatile Performance.

Climb (Str): Too situational.

Diplomacy (Cha): Essential for the party's Face,
but it's easier to cover this with Versatile Performance.

Disguise (Cha): Too situational, and the Bard can
cast Disguise Self.

Escape Artist (Dex): Too situational.

Intimidate (Cha): Essential for the party's Face,
but it's easier to cover this with Versatile Performance.

Knowledge (all) (Int): Bardic Knowledge adds a nice
bonus, but it can't compete with actual skill ranks. Even one rank in each Knowledge
skill will make the Bard a formidable Librarian.

Linguistics (Int): The Bard can cast Tongues.

Perception (Wis): The most rolled skill in the game.

Perform (Cha): Pick two from the Versatile Performance
list which cover all four social skills. Comedy and Oratory or Keyboard and Sing.

Sense Motive (Wis): Essential for the party's Face,
but it's easier to cover this with Versatile Performance, and Versatile performance
won't make you use the Bard's relatively low Wisdom.

Sleight of Hand (Dex): Too situational.

Spellcraft (Int): Good for identifying spells and
magic items.

Stealth (Dex): Essential if you plan to be a Scout.

Use Magic Device (Cha): The bard already has formidable
magical abilities, but UMD can allow you to use a lot of interesting items, including
scrolls and wands of spells not on the Bard spell list.

Feats

Discordant Voice: This applies whenever you use
Bardic Performance to create a Supernatural or Spell-Like effect. That is literally
every Bardic Performance ability. 1d6 damage isn't a ton, but almost nothing
resists sonic damage.

Dodge: The Bard's AC is generally poor, and a +1
dodge bonus helps a bit.

Murderer's Circle: Only useful if you use
the performance combat rules.

Extra Performance: You will get a better return
by selecting a race which offers extra performance rounds as a favored class
ability.

Lingering Performance: With a bit of planning this
can effectively triple your performance rounds per day. Unfortunately this does
not allow you to run multiple songs at once: "A bard cannot have more than one
bardic performance in effect at one time."

Master Combat Performer: Only useful if you use the
performance combat rules.

Mocking Dance: Only useful if you use the performance
combat rules.

Spellsong: The ability to concentrate on a spell
as a move action offers some interesting options, but very few Bard spells require
concentration..

Stone Singer: Situational, and not very useful.

War Singer: Situational, and not very useful.

Dazzling Display: Only useful if you use the performance
combat rules.

Dramatic Display: Only useful if you use the
performance combat rules.

Hero's Display: Only useful if you use the
performance combat rules.

Masterful Display: Only useful if you use the
performance combat rules.

Performing Combatant: Only useful if you use the
performance combat rules.

Savage Display: Only useful if you use the
performance combat rules.

Weapons

Light Crossbow: A good ranged option for Bards with
poor Strength, but you'll need an extra feat to compete with the Longbow.

Longbow: Likely your best option if you plan to fight
at range.

Longsword: The easiest option, but requires more
Strength than the Bard usually has to be truly effective. You can use Slashing Grace
with the longsword to make it a bit more effective.

Rapier: Weapon Finesse makes the rapier viable at
level 1, though your damage will be poor.

Whip: The whip is a very interesting option, but
it's completely useless without Whip Mastery, and you will probably want to pick
up Weapon Finesse and Slashing Grace to get some decent damage.

Armor

Armor is presented in the order in which you should acquire it, rather than
alphabetical order.

Studded Leather: Starting Armor

Heavy Shield: More AC than a buckler, but you may
need to go without a weapon while you cast spells, and you may need to drop it to
use a musical instrument.

Chain Shirt: A mithral shirt will last your whole
career.

Buckler: A cheap and easy bonus to AC, and it won't
prevent your hand for instruments of weapons.